In an article written by Jakub Plihal for news server Aktualne.cz, about Prague’s coming war with short-term rentals, he covered a symbolic protest in a building where out of seventeen flats only three are occupied by families permanently. “Our families have lived here since the war” said one resident protester. “My husband was born here. He has an attachment to his residence, he does not want to move.”
Prague’s Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) repeated his analysis of the short-term rental business “Airbnb is eating the city from within.” The mayor has recently increased his rhetoric against “Airbnb” with the latest escalation including talk of a full ban. There are many global rental sites, some of which rent for longer term, some shorter and some acting as full rental portals. Hřib has not articulated if he will only target Airbnb or a specific segment of the industry.
The protest was organized by Stop Airbnb, a loosely organized group which rented the flat and opened it to the public as a protest against the company they rented it from. The group was addressed by Hřib as he emphasized that the city does not even know which flats are on the portal, or which flats are being rented in the city. It is estimated that over 13,000 flats have a tie to Airbnb’s services.
Several cities including Amsterdam, Berlin and Palma de Mallorca have restrictions on rentals. Prague is hoping to join the group soon. Airbnb has addressed the situation and said that they are interested in dealing with each city’s concerns, including Prague. It added that they have sanctioned many studies which show that the situation with living accommodation will not improve even if the company were to stop operating in the city.
